Tolerate: to allow;exist or occur without interference.
Intolerance: unable or indisposed to tolerate; unwillingness to recognise and respect

I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.

Gluten and lactose are not my friends.

Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.

I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

September 17, 2012

Gorgeous Gnocchi

I've been working in the garden lately

Although it's still early Spring, and we're not safe from frosts yet, I've got potato shoots sticking above the soil promising big things things come later in the year.
Actually I've had to cover my potato pots with chicken wire as my naughty doggie likes to snuffle his snout through the dirt, digging up potato flavoured balls to play with. He doesn't consider this a waste of epicurian delights, after all they're just potatoes- right? But fresh potatoes are so lovely, it wasn't until I grew my own that I realised potatoes are really as crunchy and juicy as apples!

Potatoes are really native to South America not Canberra, and weren't introduced to Europe until about the 16th century, where the Italians added them to the little dumplings previously made with semolina, bread crumbs or even ricotta, and a new classic was born. They can be boiled or boiled then fried, are delicious carriers for sauce and they stick to your ribs in true Nonna food fashion.
Yummo!

500gr Potatoes (floury types are best, but this is what I had to hand)
1 cup gluten free Flour
2 Egg Yolks
big pinch of Salt

First things first, cook your potatoes, the idea is to keep the potatoes as dry as possible as that will keep the gnocchi as light as possible. You can bake them in the oven but that will take a while, or you can cheat just a little like I did, and microwave them instead. Shhhh.... just don't tell all the Nonna's out there, will you?
Stab the potatoes with a fork to pierce the skin and to avoid the potato exploding in the microwave

Cook them until nice and very soft

Scoop the potatoes out of their skins while still nice and warm

Have you seen one of these before? Its a Potato Ricer and it's kind of like a huge big garlic press, but for potatoes. It smushes the spuddies out of the little holes making little rice-like grains or strands. If you don't have one, you can just mash them up instead

So strangely satisfying....

Let the potato cool a bit for a while, just enough so that the egg yolks won't cook when mixed in

Add in the flour, yolks and salt then knead briefly until it forms a soft, slightly sticky dough

Don't pound away at it or it will turn into tough little nuggets, try and use a gentle touch to create light, fluffy little pillows instead

Divide the dough into quarters, then roll into a finger-thickness sausage and cut into little pieces about 1 1/2cm long

Roll each little bitty down the back of a fork, pressing slightly to leave stripy little indents around their girth. These grooves will trap sauce in them later on, ensuring each bite has a lovely sauce to dumpling ratio instead of just starchy solids

Keep going until all done

Pop the gnocchi into a pan of salted boiling water, and then wait until they float to the surface

As soon as they float, scoop them out and drain before tossing through the sauce of your choosing

Well you can't get much more awesome than home made gnocchi! I've never tried it before but it looks so easy... I'd love to give this a try! And that lactose free pesto looks divine :) I love basil but I'm afraid I don't have a garden - I have to get my supplies from Coles instead :(

I hope you do try it out Christine! Fresh picked just can't be beat, but my Dad used to grow herbs for Coles in Queensland, and his were awesome too- although he was certainly never paid enough for all his hard work :)

I haven't made gnocchi for yonks and everything in the blogosphere at the moment is pointing towards me making the delicious tasty soft pillows of fluffy goodness. (Although seeing as though it's been a while it would probably be more like the tough little nuggets you also speak of.)

What a great looking gnocchi and that's a great time-saving tip about cooking the potatoes in the microwave. I've just visited Celia's blog and she's been talking about how wonderful freshly harvested potatoes are compared with what you buy in the supermarket. I think pesto gnocchi is my favourite. I'll look forward to making this xx

Beautiful, fresh, delicious recipe. Love that you cook from your own garden. So jealous! And that potato ricer thingamabob looks like so much fun lol! Making gnocchi from scratch looks just as much fun to make as it is to eat. Maybe something could get the whole family to do together. Though, I know that'd be hard for my family because everybody jsut wants to eat but nobody wants to cook LOL

I have never made gnocchi before although I have always meant too, and I love eating it :) I will have to give it a go! In the garden at the moment I have loots of salad greens and tones of coriander and parsley, no basil... for some reason it isn't doing well at the moment :(

Gnocchi has always seemed too intimidating to me - you've made it look so easy! My mom actually suggested she wanted to try it (never having made the "normal" version either). I talked her out of it... now, I'm going to flip her your post and set a date to try this together.

As for the garden, here in Canada fall has arrived - we are preparing for a winter of squash and root veggies. Nothing growing in my garden but some basil clinging on for dear life in a pot on our patio right now!

Thank you for this recipe! It goes straight into my dad's inbox right now. Since he has started eating gf he can't have his beloved gnocchi anymore, but he has also become adventurous in the kitchen, and I know he'd have fun to make these!

About Me

The InTolerant Chef is the nom-de-plume of The InTolerant Chef.She lives in Canberra,Australia,with her husband Big J, and 2 daughters, Little j and Middle C. Gluten and Lactose are not her friends. She also has many chemicals who refuse to tolerate her, and insulin finds her hard to resist. Despite all this, the InTolerant Chef is a healthy,happy person who loves cooking for her family and friends.